The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [130]
Lying in bed that evening, Ben tried to fall asleep. His feet were clammy from sweat, and he searched endlessly for a comfortable sleeping position. Lying on his back, he thought about open green meadows. Shifting to his side, he pictured the tumbling of sapphire ocean waves. Turning on his stomach, he fantasized about sex with a long-legged redhead. But in the end, the meadow always became the Supreme Court, the waves always crashed too loudly, and the redhead always became Rick. His eyes long since adjusted to the darkness of his room, Ben eventually got out of bed and sat down at his desk. On one of his bookshelves, he spotted the cheesy metal scales of justice his mother had bought for him when he first got his clerkship. He grabbed the scales from the shelf and smiled.
Alternating his fingers, he tipped each side of the scale, hoping the repetitive movement might lull him to sleep. Five minutes later, he was still wide awake. He opened his top drawer looking for a new distraction and pulled out erasers, paper clips, highlighters, and other desk accessories. He placed a staple remover on the left balance of the scale and watched justice tip toward the left. Adding a paper clip to the same side, he said, “This is all that is good in the world.” Adding a highlighter, he said, “This is all that is bright.” Smiling as he added a small bottle of whiteout, he whispered, “This is my honesty.” Slowly, he added pencils, extra staples, rubber bands, and an eraser to the balance: his intelligence, his integrity, his happiness, and his future. He grabbed his wallet from the corner of the desk and held it over the still-empty right side of the scale. “And this is the Supreme Court,” he announced as he dropped the wallet into place. When it hit the scale, the desk accessories flew through the air.
“Are you sure?” Lisa asked, surprised.
“Not entirely,” Ben said early the following morning. “But I’m ninety percent there. Just tell me what you think the next step is.”
“It depends who you trust,” Lisa said, sipping her coffee. “You can probably go to Hollis.”
“I was thinking about that,” Ben explained, hoping that his cup of tea would calm his nerves. “But I don’t think he’s the right person to turn to. He may be able to smooth things over if he takes me to the authorities, but he certainly won’t be able to help me catch Rick.”
“I agree. Hollis may be a great justice, but there’s no way he’ll let you use your position on the Court to trap Rick.”
Ben wrapped the string of the teabag around a pencil to squeeze the teabag dry. “So who does that leave?”
“I wouldn’t go to Lungen and Fisk. They’ll never help you.”
“No question about it. They’d arrest me the moment I opened my mouth.”
“What about going over their heads? Go talk to the head of the marshals.”
“That’s what I was thinking last night. I need someone with authority who isn’t looking for a promotion. That way, they’ll be more concerned with catching Rick than with simply turning me in.”
“Then you’ve got to go to the head of the marshals.”
“Then that’s that.”
Lisa leaned back in her chair. “I can’t believe you’re going to turn yourself in!”
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who suggested this whole thing.”
“I know. I just can’t believe you’re doing it. What put you over the top?”
“The next head of the D.C. Transit Authority.”
“What?” Lisa asked.
“Nothing. Forget about it,” Ben said. “When it came right down to it, I thought your argument yesterday really made sense. For the past few months, I haven’t been in control.”
“So when are you going to do it?”
“I think during lunch. I just have to find out the name of the chief marshal.”
“Have you thought about how you’re going to get in to see him?”
“I’ll tell his secretary that I have to personally deliver a vital message from Justice Hollis. The moment I get in his office, I can explain the real story and ask him if he’ll help us catch Rick.” When Lisa nodded her approval, Ben continued, “So that means we only have one more thing we need to do.”
“Which is what?”
“We have to figure